How the Porcupine got it's coat of Quills
by Princess CatK
Summary: Written in the style of Native American Folk Lore How the Porqupine Got his coat of Quills is a story about just that, How the porqupine and some of the other animals got thier coats. It also has a moral at the end about teasing others.


How the Porcupine Got its Quills.

Of all the animals of the Earth I would have to say the animal with the most interesting story to tell would be the porcupine. Have you ever wondered how the porcupine got its quills?

It happened a long time ago when the Wise Chief of the sky looked down and saw that the animals he had made had no fur coats. He in his wisdom knew that it was not good for the animals to have no fur coats so he went to his wife known as Wise Woman and told her to make fur coats for each animal. She was honored to receive such a task and started immediately. Wise women decided that each coat would have a special meaning.

The first animal fur coat she made was for the lion. Now the lion was to be the king of the beasts so he had to look like a king. Wise woman made the lion's coat a beautiful yellowish brown. The top of his coat had a huge section of fur which people today call his mane.

After finishing the lion's coat she started on the foxes. Now the fox is a sly creature so the Wise Women made his coat a bright red this was to show how sly he was. Once she had finished these coats she brought them down to Earth and presented them to the lion and the fox. The porcupine looked at them in wonder and began dreaming of what his coat would look like.

One by one the other animals received their coats each one made in there own special way. The rabbit's coat was brown with a touch of white for his tail to represent his shyness. Since the horse is a powerful creature that can run as fast as the wind. So the wise women made the horses coat a shiny white to shimmer in the wind when she ran. The mouse's coat was brown and black so that the dirt would not show on it when he got into tight spaces. The dog's coat was mixed color of brown, black, white, orange and red. This represented the dog's loyalty. With each new coat the porcupine began to get more and more curious about what his coat would look like. The other animals teased him saying that no matter what his coat was like he would never be special. With tears in his eyes the porcupine headed home they were right he was not special and he never would be.

It was near sunset and Wise Woman was beginning to get tired. She had worked all day long and she still had more coats to make before going to sleep. She had finished about two dozen that day. She still had to make the different types of bear's coats, the different tigers coats and of course the

Porcupines. As she started on the bear's coats she knew that she would never finish before nightfall but she had to try. She took the rugged black, brown and white materials and started working. She was so tired she didn't even notice that the needle had slipped through her fingers. It fell down to Earth where an unsuspecting porcupine was taking a midnight stroll. Ouch! He cried as the needle went deep into his skin. Thinking that it was a pinecone he went on his way as if nothing had happened. Now it happened that the Wise Woman noticed that she had lost her needle and so she got three more incase she misplaced them again. She dropped them too and they also fell deep into the porcupine's back. Ouch! He cried again as they dug deep into his skin. Not wanting to loose anymore needles the Wise Woman finally went to bed.

Early the next morning she went back to work on the bear's fur coat. It would represent the bear's strength. The tiger's coats had black stripes. This coat symbolized the tiger's courage.

In the morning the other animals noticed the needles sticking out of the porcupine's back. Seeing them in his back made the other animals laugh.

"Hay tiny, what are those spikes sticking out of your back? Did you think that they would make you special? Your stupid nothing can make you special. Nothing will ever make you as beautiful as us not even a coat.

Finally it came time for the Wise Woman to give the porcupine his coat of fur. However, it would not fit because of the quills in his back. This made the other animals laugh. "He thought that spikes would make him special but because of them he cant put on his fur. He'll never be special like us." Once again tears filled the porcupine's eyes. This made the Wise Woman very angry. "You should be ashamed of yourselves picking on the porcupine just because he is different. Now you apologies or I will take away your coats. This made the animals very mad at the porcupine.

The porcupine was sad he was the only animal who did not have a coat and He had no way of protecting himself from the other animals. The Wise Woman thought for a moment then came up with an idea. She whispered it in the porcupine's ear and he began to smile. When the Wise woman returned she presented him with his coat made entirely out of quills. Before she left she warned the animals again Be kind to the porcupine he is special just the way he is. Remember, teasing hurts you just as much as the animal you tease. Crossing their paws the animals promised to behave but as soon as the Wise Woman left the other animals started teasing the porcupine once more.

They picked him up and stated batting him around like a ball but his new coat of quills hurt them. The quills dug deep into their fur and the more they tried pulling them out the deeper into their coats the quills went. As they called out for help, they remembered Wise Woman's words "Teasing isn't fun, it's hurtful and it doesn't only hurt the one you tease." Hearing the animal's cries for help the Wise Women once again returned to Earth. The animals all hung their heads in shame for they were embarrassed and sad that they did not listen to her warnings. Realizing that the animals had learned their lesson she pulled the quills out. From that day, forward no animal has ever teased the porcupine. The animals learned the hard way that teasing hurts everyone involved.

The end


End file.
